wigginsfamfarm
Hatching
- May 25, 2016
- 1
- 0
- 7
I have a mixed flock of 17 chickens in Virginia and recently noticed one was looking a bit on the pathetic side after weeks of rain. This little hen is a Red Dorking and about 3 months old that we hatched here in an incubator. She seemed to look wet on her underside and tail feathers and was very slow moving. The major issue that caught my eye was she kept falling asleep standing up - in the middle of the yard, near the food and water tubs, everywhere. She looked bad. I brought her to the dust bath thinking maybe she was just damp and cold. I placed her in it and she fell over. I tried to hand dust bathe her and it didnt work well. By the end of the day she had found energy to hop up to roost with the others so I assumed she was just tired earlier on. The next morning my husband found her face down in the pen. We brought her to be garage in her own clean box with fresh food and water with ACV. She barely moved. Figured we come home to her gone. Opposite. She is still trucking along and seems to be more mobile now, eats, drinks but has some trembles here and there. We soon noticed another Red Dorking falling asleep while standing up. Difference here was she still zipped around the yard and didn't look pathetic like the first bird. We're thinking we caught her before she got bad. She too went straight to the garage in a new pen. Fresh food and water with ACV. The two birds are now together after about a week of isolation and all signs are pointing to good health. We traveled out of town for the holiday and my father in law looked after the chickens and home. Unfortunately he found our little Red Dorking roo face down and gone Saturday morning. Friday I notice he was a little sleepy so I broke down and called the vet to simply inquire about this. Researched a bit online and some say this "sleeping while standing" is a red flag meaning illness and some say they are just tired. Left questions with the receptionist for the poultry specialist regarding my chickens and concerns. Vet still hasn't returned my call. Returned home from vacation and noticed another Red Dorking with the same sleepy acts. Still moves around and runs for treats but every now and then she stands and sleeps. All the birds that have been effected (2 in garage, roo who died and hen who today began to sleep) are all Red Dorkings hatched in our incubator. The mother hens if these chicks are in our yard and are doing fine. The father rooster was fine and healthy but recently relocated due to aggression/and over breeding our only 3 egg layers.
PLEAS help us! We don't want to lose any more chickens and we want to solve this sudden sleepy to sudden death chaos! It may be genetics for this one group of babes but we are still concerned about our other breeds and the current sleepy ones! Could it be a different breed carrying some illness or is there something in our yard they got into that's dangerous? We don't know what to do but we feel we need to do something and do it fast! From one chicken lover to another, any and all help is greatly appreciated!
AnnaLeah
PLEAS help us! We don't want to lose any more chickens and we want to solve this sudden sleepy to sudden death chaos! It may be genetics for this one group of babes but we are still concerned about our other breeds and the current sleepy ones! Could it be a different breed carrying some illness or is there something in our yard they got into that's dangerous? We don't know what to do but we feel we need to do something and do it fast! From one chicken lover to another, any and all help is greatly appreciated!
AnnaLeah
